My Name is Earl

One of the problems with 'Raising Hope' is that the sitcom is burdened with a fairly dopey title. It's about a guy who learns that he has a baby girl named "Hope," who he then must "raise" -- leading to the dumb pun that is the name of the show. The other problem with the sitcom is ... well, lots of stuff.

The set-up is that Jimmy Chance (Lucas Neff) has sex with a woman who turns out to be a murderer. The young lady gives birth to Hope, and then the mom is -- killed in the electric chair. Next, Hope's life is constantly put at risk by the incompetence of Jimmy and his white trash relatives. So already we've got murder, execution, and child endangerment as a combo. Not necessarily a perfect template for a cutesy sitcom.

'Raising Hope' is a dysfunctional family comedy in the vein of 'My Name Is Earl' (which is no coincidence, since the creative team is the same), but critics might be divided on just how funny it is, given that the initial theme of the show is watching a new father attempting not to kill his baby, after the child's mother has been put to death by electric chair -- cheerful, right?

While the concept might be in poor taste, the 'Raising Hope' panel at the TCA press tour itself was full of hilarious moments, mostly due to kooky Cloris Leachman and her on-stage antics, demanding that reporters stand while they asked their questions and switching chairs with Garret Dillahunt until creator Greg Garcia was making 'musical chairs' comparisons.

After a comparison to another iconic female, Betty White, Leachman dramatically declared, "I'm so sick of Betty White, I never liked her!" which was met with great appreciation from the humor-starved TCA audience.

Admittedly, the name Jaime Pressly springs more to mind one of the 'Poison Ivy' movies rather than her Emmy-winning role on 'My Name is Earl,' but obviously other people feel differently. She's just been cast in a supporting role in the as-yet-untitled comedy pilot from the creators of 'How I Met Your Mother,' about an unmarried couple that live in Pittsburgh.

It's somewhat understandable why Pressly didn't get the lead role. For one thing, it's about a younger couple and sadly Pressly is only aging upwards. For another, a supporting role would likely allow her to use her terrific comedic acting chops much better than a straight-laced lead role. In the right circumstances, television supporting characters can be more memorable than the leads and make the show more of an ensemble.

After her terrific acting in 'Earl,' it's only surprising it took this long to get another role. Considering that both Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee have already landed other television roles as well, there must be life after 'Earl.'

When I first heard the plot of the new TNT drama pilot that George Clooney is producing, Delta Blues, I thought it might be funny at first but way too odd to watch for several episodes. It's about George Hendricks, a Memphis police officer who lives with his mom and is also a part-time Elvis Presley impersonator (I'm going to assume that he doesn't dress up as Elvis while he's on duty or this show will go be way into the red zone of the QUIRKY meter).

Well, at least they grabbed someone good for the role. My Name Is Earl's Jason Lee is going to play the lead character, and I can definitely picture that. Now I just wonder if he's going to dress up as younger, thinner Elvis (circa 1959) or older, wider Elvis (circa 1975).

The pilot will be directed by Clark Johnson, who worked on The Shield.

Lee will star as Dwight Hendricks, a Memphis police officer who lives with his mother and lives a second life as an Elvis impersonator. Clark Johnson ('The Shield,''The Wire') will direct the pilot, written by Liz M. Garcia and Joshua Harto.

'Seinfeld' introduced "fugitive sex" to prime time (George Costanza couldn't get enough). Leave it to my 'My Name Is Earl' creator Greg Garcia to bring together casual sex and capital crime.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Garcia's upcoming Fox pilot, 'Keep Hope Alive,' concerns Jimmy (played by new name Lucas Neff), a first-time dad who'll need a village to raise his tot. Jimmy barely knows the mom, who has somehow ended up on Death Row, and his own youthful mother (played by Martha Plimpton) doesn't want to be anyone's granny.

The "Cash For Clunkers" program ends tonight at 8PM, which is probably a good thing because we won't have to hear the term "Cash For Clunkers" anymore. But what about TV cars? Which famous television autos are in such bad shape they should be traded in? TV Tango has a fun list that includes the Beverly Hillbillies car and Columbo's old Peugeot.

It's a clever list, and includes the new vanity plates each car would have.

Were you charmed by the first sweet and funny season of My Name is Earl? Me too. And did you just about give up on the show after it eventually lost most of its charm and became a depressing, unfunny raunch fest? Me too. That's probably why I'm not too excited about Earl creator Greg Garcia's new show.

Fox just picked up Garcia's untitled single-camera comedy. The show will revolve around a young man raising an infant, the result of a one-night stand with a death row inmate, with the help of his dysfunctional family. Garcia tells Variety that his new characters will be "the same type of people" we saw in Earl and that they'll inhabit a world not unlike Earl's hometown of Camden.

Count me out if the show will rely on the same mean-spirited bathroom and gross out humor we saw in the last few seasons of Earl. Hopefully, Garcia will deliver something fun, fresh and clever instead of rehashing the same crude jokes and stories that got his old show cancelled.

Usually, TBS and I don't agree on what's funny. Sure, we both like Seinfeld, but who doesn't like Seinfeld? Normally, I stay away from the network's aggressive slate of not-so-groundbreaking sitcom pap like The Bill Engvall Show and Tyler Perry's House of Pain. But now I'm happy to hear that – instead of developing another show around another unfunny family-friendly comedian – TBS is in talks to pick up My Name is Earl for 13 new episodes.

NBC unceremoniously canceled Earl a few weeks ago when it announced its new fall season during its Upfront presentation. TBS already has Earl repeats lined up for the fall, as part of a deal with the show's producer, 20th Century Fox, but it's still unclear if the network will be able to produce new episodes of the show on a basic cable budget.

TBS is currently running repeats of My Name Is Earl, and to pretty solid ratings. With NBC cancelling Earl, it looked like all that might end. Well, not the re-reuns -- they can run forever -- but that influx of new episodes. But in this era of cross-network deals and shows jumping ship to keep costs down, it may not be the end of the road for the Hickey boys after all. Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, loves the show and would be more than willing to discuss having My Name Is Earl move to TBS for a fifth season.

He hasn't approached them, but he's said "I'm in the book" about them approaching him. "We'd definitely look," he says about trying to work out a deal to keep the show on the air. Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Friday Night Lights have already found new life in cable deals, though theirs involved sharing with NBC, so it's not unprecedented. And with TBS trying to ramp up its original slate it wouldn't be a bad move to take an established property to anchor the schedule.

The show debuted to impressive ratings in 2005, and went on to win four Emmy awards for its first season, including awards for writing and directing. But despite an additional Emmy for co-star Jaime Pressly in 2006, 'Earl''s ratings deteriorated over time, placing it on the bubble for a good portion of this year.

'Earl' ends after four seasons on NBC.

However, there is a chance 'My Name Is Earl' will go on -- at least on a different network. According to the Hollywood Reporter, ABC and Fox are in talks to bring 'Earl' to their network.